5 replies to this topic

[UnknownKnowledge]

I am very confused on this subject even though how long I've been planning for college. I've been planning for college since the 7th grade and now I'm in the 11th grade and am starting to get confused as to degrees and such.
I am wanting to either go to a four year college at a community college to get my Associates degree in computer engineering(programming), is this good enough to get a good job and get started in this field?
I am also wondering if I should go to a UC for a few more years to get my Masters(I'm wondering if this is necessary?).
What I'm really wondering is if I get 4 years of college and go out for experience will that be sufficient if I apply myself or should I go get my masters at a uc?
I'm not sure where else to go to for advice as most people in my high school are going to be lawyers, business men, or doctors and my high school counselor doesn't know anything about a computer programming career. So if anyone could give me help links that would be great.

[chax]

Try getting enrolled for Computer Science & Engineering in a B-Tech/BS degree college.
Programming includes many other things (data-structures, algorithms, etc.).

[Blue Moon]

Go for Computer Engineering, I bet u, u'll realize that almost every field in dis lif will ask for u service

[WingedPanther]

At least in the United States, there are a ton of people with Masters degrees in a market where a lot of people are looking for jobs. Having a Masters degree can actually cause you to not get a job, because they'll assume you want more money than the guy with the Bachelors. Another thing to be aware of is markets change rapidly. Four years ago, I had a completely different understanding of programming from today. Making some of these decisions is really hard when you don't know how much you don't know. Start by getting a good four-year degree. In 2-3 years, you'll have a good idea as to whether the Master's degree is worth it.

[John]

UnknownKnowledge, I actually wrote a blog on this two years ago: Computer Science vs. Computer Engineering | Compiled Thoughts | John Ciacia

But, I can offer some additional notes on what I have learned:
- If you want to write software, computer science is the degree you are looking for. It deals mainly with high level programming, algorithms, data structures, development methodologies, and development paradigms. If you want to work in the grey area between software and hardware, then its computer engineering. Computer engineering tends to deal with low level programming (assembly) and embedded devices.

- A four year degree, should get you a Bachelors (not an Associates) degree, and under most circumstances, 6 years will get you a masters. However, a lot of colleges and universities offer a combined program, that will allow you to simultaneously take graduate and undergraduate classes, and earn your Masters degree in 5 years.

- However, as WingedPanther mentioned, a Masters degree can make you overqualified, and render it more difficult to find a job (you of course have the option to undersell yourself and only mention your Bachelors degree on your resume).

- Internships (experience) are almost imperative to your future job search. Don't waist your summers living home with your parents working at your local Starbucks, get an internship with a tech company so your resume will have some substance.

Edited by John, 28 June 2011 - 04:09 PM.

[fayyazlodhi]

A few more points to ponder:

1. In Bachelors, one should have more energy and less responsibilities so a general perception is, people become programmers in a four year bachelors (or earlier) or they don't. Masters might help polish stuff but it doesn't make a non programmer a programmer for sure as an example. It has more time for exploration and more courses so gets you a good breadth.

2. For the purpose of industry unless you are a researcher or work in a very specialized domain, the bachelors academics is sufficient every where in the world. And good industry experience is well valued.

3. A good masters generally should only be pursued with the single intention of getting into research. One way it leads to is college professorship via PHD. But you need to know if you have a research mindset or engineering one.

4. Research and industry, though there are instances where they work parallel but still they generally don't go along. If you have 10 years of good industry experience, you still cant become even an assistant professor in a decent university.

5. Similarly, although at every good multinational, PHD qualification is valued upto five years of industry experience equivalent after bachelors and even more in case of research oriented work nature. However, the pool of such employers would be reasonably short compared to the rest. People would ask themselves "okay this guy is really good, But do i really have a use of his PHD. Can't i hire an ace programmer out of college or an industry veteran with years of experience to meet my needs better". Unfortunately the answer to this is usually Yes (i.e. against PHD).

So think first about what you want to do in life and proceed accordingly.